Remote control of electronic ballasts and/or LED drivers via the power line connections allows improved functionality without additional control wiring. Conventional power line carrier (PLC) circuits transmit a modulated high frequency carrier signal through the power wiring to which a lighting system ballast is connected. However, this communication technique requires filter trapping to confine the signal to the targeted ballasts, and the ballast must have a receiver to interpret signals that are superimposed on the power line. Moreover the carrier signal may be significantly attenuated by inherent filtering properties of the power lines over which they are transmitted. Accordingly, conventional power line communications systems are expensive and unreliable. Thus, there remains a need for improved communications systems to provide control information to lighting ballasts using existing power lines.